The winds of change are gusting through remote Papunya, a town
plagued for years by financial scandal and administrative
impropriety.

A new council has been elected, and there are now transparent
auditing systems. Recent elections saw an influx of "new broom"
council members not linked to the Anderson-Hanley family dynasty,
which had presided over an epidemic of substance abuse, millions of
dollars in funds unaccounted for, and the purchase of expensive
equipment, including four-wheel-drive vehicles that can no longer
be found.

The changes at Papunya, 280 kilometres west of Alice Springs, in
the central desert, come as the Federal Government's three-month
inquiry into community's finances is about to report on hundreds of
thousands of dollars in work-for-the-dole payments still
unaccounted for.

The report, due to be handed to Cabinet Secretary Sharman Stone
next week, is believed to contain damning criticism of Papunya's
financial practices under its former chief executive, Steven
Hanley, including purchasing practices and the administration of
the community employment programs. It is, however, unlikely to
recommend action against individuals.

The Sunday Age believes that although the investigation,
conducted by a private firm of auditors, received an unexpected
level of co-operation it was also hampered by a chronic lack of
documentation and shoddy records.

The report's findings are expected to highlight anomalies and
recommend an administrative overhaul.

Although investigators have pored over Papunya's accounts, it is
believed the principal investigator spent only one day at the
community. Papunya's newly appointed chief executive officer, Brian
Perry, said yesterday the new councillors had been quick to adopt
several reforms to make administration "more transparent and
accountable", and had tried to improve services, including rubbish
collection.

"I can now report that the rubbish bins are full of rubbish,
that the recording studio is being brought back into running order,
and we are investigating options for programs to tackle petrol
sniffing," he said.

The Northern Territory electoral commission confirmed that two
councillors, both members of the Anderson family, had been replaced
in the recent elections. Mr Perry said the council was determined
to restore financial integrity and tackle serious health and
substance abuse problems that had increased significantly in recent
years.

The Federal Government investigation followed a report in The
Sunday Age that revealed, among other things, that an
independent audit of Papunya's 2004 accounts had found assets and
funds either missing, misappropriate or unaccounted for.

The audit questioned the payment of $500,000 in
work-for-the-dole payments paid to 45 people.

Council documents produced at the time stated that only seven
people were employed full-time under the scheme, two part-time.
Papunya is one of Australia's most impoverished indigenous
communities.

More than 25 per cent of its 350 peoples are categorised as
habitual substance abusers, and little if anything had been done by
the council to eradicate the problem, despite ample money for
programs.

Investigations by The Sunday Age revealed that Mr Hanley,
who is married to the ALP member for Macdonnell, Alison Anderson,
presided over a chronic period of community mismanagement.

Holding no formal qualifications for the job, Mr Hanley
appointed a chef with no qualifications to run petrol sniffing
programs; resisted attempts by local government authorities to
assess his performance, and was responsible for forcing World
Vision to abandon its programs.

The community's Warumpi arts co-operative was forced to close
after allegations that $80,000 had been siphoned off.

Mr Hanley ran the council for four years until June last year
after taking over from his wife, Alison, who relinquished the job
to become an ATSIC commissioner.